In "Silent Salesman Too" it says that this machine was made by a man to make money during the depression. I have no evidence to support or refute that claim but it does sound plausible. It seems to be handmade and has a very simple mechanism with a wooden vend wheel. Every part on it could be made with the simplest of tools in a home garage. Even the globe would have been easy to come by being a simple cylinder that would have been sold at the local hardware store for such things as lanterns.

The words scarce or rare usually mean a high price tag but this is an exception. This machine is fairly inexpensive but difficult to find since very few were made. One would assume that the man that made these so that he could make money while out of work would have stopped when times got better and he found fulltime employment.

I am drawn to this machine and others like it because they intrigue me. Machines that are, or look like they are, homemade make me daydream of the person setting out for the garage to make a gumball machine. What thoughts might have been in their head to make them attempt such a seemingly strange task? Did they just like messing around in the garage with mechanical stuff like I do, or was there a purpose for them to create it like profit? Either way, kudos to them for undertaking such a daunting task.

This particular example is one of only two that I have seen. It is in pretty good original condition, works, but has two vertical cracks running the length of the glass.